Flower paintings were one of the most popular forms of still lifes in Spain as their attractive and varied appearance allowed for infinite combinations of different forms of plant life that could in turn be expanded with the addition of animals, views of gardens and other related objects, ornamental and architectural elements and landscape. The finest works of this kind present impressive compositions that bear witness to their authors’ creative capacity and gift for observation.

Among 17^th-century masters from Seville, Camprobín was the first to specialize in flower paintings. And he was very successful, producing many works with a high overall level of quality. He used many different modes of presentation to vary his compositions, displaying floral bouquets in wicker baskets, vases, urns and other elegant vessels that allowed him to fashion highly attractive paintings in which plants were offset by a variety of objects drawn from his imagination or from everyday life. He was especially interested in bronze vases whose sinuous shapes. Convex and concave curves, wavy patterns and fabulous and imaginative motifs allowed him to establish curious contrasts with the bouquets themselves. This same fondness for contrast is visible in the tonal relations between the flowers and their recipients. Here, this is clear in the difference between the vase’s shiny gold tonalities and the colorful vivacity of the flowers. According to Portús: In this small flower painting [Camprobín] not only exploits all of these possibilities; he also established a stimulating dialog of curves, drawing on the vase’s concave and convex surfaces, the volume of the roses and the canvas’s circular format. While unusual, it was not unique in Spanish painting, as it had already been used by El Labrador (text from Luna, J. J.: El bodegón español en el Prado. De Van der Hamen a Goya, Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008, p. 88).